A. Field of Invention
Embodiments of this invention relate to art implements such as, without limitation, paintbrushes, pencils, mauls, chisels and other marking instruments.
B. Description of the Related Art
When artists create works of art based on observations of models or natural scenes, they are often interested in comparing the relative sizes of different portions of their subjects so that they might depict their subjects in proper proportion. One technique employed by many artists to gauge sizes is holding the handle of an art implement against their subject, observing the length of the subject relative to the handle, and translating the approximate length of the subject to their canvas, sculpture, or other medium by holding the handle against the medium.
This technique of measure is convenient, because it allows the artist to use the art implement he is already holding to measure scale, but it is also imprecise and requires repeated measurements since the measurement location on the art implement is lost after scaling. The artist “eyeballs,” i.e. estimates, the relative length and only approximately translates this length to the work of art. Any slip of the finger or slight error in judgment can yield disproportion among various objects the artist is attempting to depict.
The present invention provides devices and methods for overcoming some shortcomings of the prior art. For example, some embodiments of the present invention may provide a means for more accurately estimating relative lengths using the handle of an artist's brush.